All-New Mercedes E-Class Caught Testing in C-Class Body

This may look yet another set of spy shots of the upcoming C63 AMG, but that’s exactly what Mercedes wants you to think. Despite having widened fenders and camo in all the areas you’d expect of a disguised hi-po C-Class, this is in fact a test mule for the next-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class. As the next E-Class will share the same modular platform as the C-Class, Mercedes engineers had no problem to send out the sedan with significantly wider wheel arches and a stretched hood.

Our spy photographer informed us that the car’s overall length is a few centimeters longer than the Chinese-market long wheelbase C-Class L, suggesting that hidden underneath lurks the mechanicals of the new E. A nine-speed automatic, rolled out on the 2015 CLS-Class, is expected to be offered alongside a new straight-six powerplant, and the E-Class will once again come with five different bodystyles: sedan, long-wheelbase, wagon, coupe and convertible. Mercedes is rumored to be planning a 2016 launch for the new E-Class.